Of caves and spiders
by Ardvari
Summary: Sortof sequel to Under the bed. Another monster is plaguing little Miss Grissom.


**A/N: **This is sort of a sequel to "Under the bed". My inner child wants out desperately... Thanks to the lovely ScullysEvilTwin for the beta. ;)

**Of caves and spiders**

He came home to find the house shrouded in darkness. Immediately his inner alarm went off, started buzzing dully in his ears while bright white lights went off in front of his eyes. What had happened? Had they been abducted? Oh god…

Finally his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he noticed the structure that, he was very sure, had not always been the center of the living room. A giant superstructure made out of blankets, pillows, chairs and the coffee table. It looked like a nomadic tent and, intrigued, he walked closer to it.

A cave- the first real cave that had been built in this house- and he realized that he was excited and proud of the clumsy thing. The first house his daughter had built, safely cocooned by the larger townhouse.

He knelt down, pushed the blanket that doubled as a door aside and peeked into the darkness. He was rewarded with a shriek and the bright beam of a flashlight pointed straight at his face.

"Honey, don't point it at his face. Point it down so he can see." Sara chided softly and after the girl complied, he could see that she was resting on her stomach halfway under the coffee table, her head propped up on her arms and a couple of pillows. His daughter was sitting next to her, ducking low as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked, still worried that they were hiding in this… thing because of something really dangerous. Then again, Sara looked rather complacent down there and she winked at him smugly.

Noelle crept towards him, the flashlight throwing its beam around the cave wildly. When she had reached the makeshift door, she peeked out cautiously, then leaned forward until her face was mere inches away from her father's.

"There was a _gigantic_ spider in the corner by the couch. It was _huge_!" she stated and stretched her arms out to her sides. Behind her, Sara coughed softly, caught his attention and pointed to her thumbnail. Apparently, the two of them had a different conception of the spider's actual size.

"And daddy- it was an ugly spider. Not fuzzy like Lily. It was hairless and had long legs."

"Sweetie, Lily is a boy." he explained, once again. Lily, the male tarantula, had been gender transformed since Noelle could talk.

"But dad, that spider was _huge_!" she complained, not happy with the fact that her father dismissed the threat of a monstrous arachnid to discuss the gender of his tarantula.

His knees were starting to protest; kneeling wasn't one of the things they enjoyed doing anymore. He shifted uncomfortably and peeked into the pillow-soft depths of the tent.

"Can I come in?" he asked, feeling foolish and hopeful.

Noelle shook her head furiously.

"No. No boys allowed."

He gaped at her for a moment, unsure of how he was supposed to react to this blatant rejection by his own flesh and blood before the flashlight beam hit him square in the eye again.

"And I know you ARE a boy, I saw you in the shower yesterday." she accused. He could hear Sara's suppressed snort from under the coffee table.

"There's no denying it Gil, she's got you figured out." she said, the laugh evident in her voice.

He glared at her, wanted to tell her that she should be on HIS side if she expected to ever see the part of his anatomy again that made him a male...

"But daddy- if you go and take the spider away, maybe you could come in." Noelle whispered conspiratorially.

"Ah, so you expect me to put my life on the line," he stated, delighted that she had asked him to take the spider away instead of killing it. A kid after his own heart.

"Well… yes." came the reply.

Of course he would take the spider away. Of course he had sworn that he would protect her from anything that might ever try to harm her. Flash floods, monsters, snakes, boyfriends… he would be prepared. This little spider would prepare him for bigger evils.

And so he complied, catching Sara blowing him a kiss as he got up with creaking knees. Well, she didn't have to battle this monstrous spider; she could rest comfortably on her cushions and wait for him to return.

The spider was a meek little thing with a pin-sized body and long legs. It was sitting peacefully in the corner behind the couch, minding its business.

"Sorry buddy," he told the spider as he scooped it up in his hand and carried it out the front door to place it on one of the shrubs Sara had planted in big pots.

When he returned to the cave, he was rewarded with two bright smiles and his daughter beckoning for him to come inside.

He had almost forgotten how much fun it was to build little, soft caves, how much fun it was to crawl in and forget that there was a world outside, a world that was cold and rough. Almost giddy with the feeling of a second childhood, he crept next to Sara and settled down beside her while their daughter drew glowing circles on the roof of the cave with the flashlight.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Sara inquired softly. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light and he suddenly realized, with a pang of guilt, that she was mending her own, broken childhood. This wasn't her second childhood. This was her first.

"Yeah, it does." he answered and kissed her softly.

The End.


End file.
